It has been a very bad week for Apple on the patent front. First the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) informed Apple that it could not trademark the iPad mini, then it said it would no longer enforce Apple's "rubber band" user interface patent. In other words, the USPTO made it clear that Apple can't go around patenting the English language and Newtonian physics.

Samsung's under investigation by the European Commission over possible monopoly abuse - just as the company learns it's failed in its attempt to overturn a ban on selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany.